Mom Breastfeeds Toddler Shortly Before Giving Birth

Photographer Maegan Dougherty has shot many touching family moments over the years, but she captured a particularly special one right before a mom in New Jersey gave birth. The woman’s 2-year-old daughter came to visit her at the hospital and wanted to nurse. So the little girl climbed onto the hospital bed where Kate Neal, pregnant with her second child, proceeded to breastfeed her toddler.

Dougherty posted a photo of the intimate encounter on her Instagram with the following caption: “I love this moment. Big sister was so happy to see her mom and to nurse. And then contractions got longer and more intense.”

The photographer shared with Yahoo Beauty that this particular shot was a first for her. “I’ve photographed many women in labor and many moms breastfeeding, including tandem breastfeeding, but this was my first time photographing a mom breastfeeding while in labor,” Dougherty says. “The mom, Kate, who is a wedding photographer, was in labor when her family brought her 2-year-old daughter to visit her at the hospital. Her daughter wanted to nurse right away and Kate was fine with that. She knew it could help labor progress, and she was also glad to have special time with her daughter after being away from each other.”

It appears as though the breastfeeding did, in fact, help move Neal’s labor along. “As Kate’s midwife, Lonnie Morris, put it, ‘breastfeeding while laboring is Pitocin [a drug that induces labor] at its finest,’” Dougherty says, “since nipple stimulation can increase oxytocin and speed up labor. Kate’s contractions started coming faster and stronger shorty after breastfeeding, and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl about two hours later.”

Neal was also surrounded by her immediate family while in labor, which Dougherty found touching. “It was beautiful to see Kate nurturing one child while getting ready to birth another,” she said. “Kate’s husband, two sisters, mom and mother-in-law were in the room, with her father and father-in-law just outside in the hall. So much human connection! It felt as if mother and daughter were radiating love and surrounded by love.”

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